This section presents terms and phrases that are central to understanding the text and may present a challenge to the reader. Use this list to create a vocabulary quiz or worksheet, to prepare flashcards for a standardized test, or to inspire classroom word games and other group activities.

1. Brahman, Brahmin (noun):

a member of the priestly caste in India that controls the Vedic religious tradition

“Joy leapt in his father’s heart at that son, so quick to learn, so eager for knowledge; he saw a great sage and priest developing in him, a prince among the Brahmans.”

2. Atman (noun):

the deepest part of the soul that manifests the godhead in every person

“And where was Atman to be found, where did He dwell, where did His eternal heart beat, where else but in one’s own self, deep within oneself, in that indestructible something that each man bore inside him?”

3. self (noun):

personhood; one’s identity; the soul; Atman

“But where, where was this self, this innermost thing, this ultimate thing? It was not flesh and bone, it was not thought or consciousness: thus the sages taught.”

4. Samana (noun):

in India, an ascetic religious mendicant

“Once, samanas had passed through Siddhartha’s town, itinerant ascetics, three dried-up, burnt-out men, neither old nor young, with dusty and bloody shoulders, nearly nude, scorched by the sun, surrounded by solitude, strangers and enemies to the world, outsiders and emaciated jackals in the realm of human beings.